Gangneung KTX (Pyeongchang bullet train)

Seollal update: multiple visitors have reported being unable to even obtain standing tickets out of Seoul on the 14th & 15th. If you’re still looking for KTX tickets on the remaining days of the Seollal holiday (until the 18th), remember to also check availability to/from Cheongnyangni Station & Sangbong Station. If that’s still no good, try buses from Dong Seoul Terminal (next to Gangbyeon Station on Line 2)

Opening Ceremony: ‪obviously this should’ve happened weeks ago (and would’ve saved a lot of hair-tearing if it had!), but better late than never I suppose – Korail have put 4 more trains on back to Seoul after the opening ceremony, departing Jinbu at 23:29, 1:10, 1:15, 1:45. Jump on it!‬

Closing Ceremony: the closing ceremony is also in need of extra trains, though these haven’t materialised yet. Watch this space… update: trains have been added, post-ceremony departures from Jinbu now scheduled for 23:49, 0:10, 0:34, 1:45

If you’re looking for information on where to stay for the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics, see this page for a full breakdown

Olympic Shuttle Buses
For the shuttle bus system around Pyeongchang/Gangneung, see here (scroll down). The drop-down arrows below the diagram show the journey times & departure frequency. There are also free shuttles from Seoul for event ticket holders (see here) but a Korean phone number is required to register

Lunar New Year situation: the Korean Lunar New Year holiday of Seollal falls on February 14th – 18th, so those dates had a separate reservation system and are mostly booked out.

This caused a good deal of anger & frustration, especially for Pyeongchang Pass holders who bought their passes without realising priority booking for those dates would then be given to people booking from within Korea.

Hopefully you’ve managed to get workable reservations on the dates you need; if not, you’ll have to try and get standing tickets. These can only be reserved in person in Korea, and there’s no clear information about exactly how many are available on each train so if you do need standing tickets it’s probably a good idea to make that the first thing you do after arriving (i.e. go straight to the KTX counter at the airport to book the trains you need)

Korail are confident the capacity is high enough for the combined demand from Seollal travel & Olympics spectators; let’s hope they’ve got their calculations right.

Update: multiple visitors have reported being unable to even obtain standing tickets out of Seoul on the 14th & 15th. If you’re still looking for tickets out of Seoul, remember to also check availability from Cheongnyangni Station & Sangbong Station. If that’s still no good, try buses from Dong Seoul Terminal (next to Gangbyeon Station on Line 2)

Gangneung KTX latest update (February 2018): The line started service in December; you can see the full schedule here (scroll down to see the schedule during the Olympics), and you can search & book online here. Also check out this video of the KTX in action.

The newly-built Gangneung KTX bullet train line (officially called the Kyungkang or Gyeonggang Line) links Incheon Airport to the port of Gangneung, crossing the north of the country from coast to coast and connecting Seoul to the Winter Olympic venues in Pyeongchang.

Construction of the line formed a key part of the Pyeongchang 2018 bid, shortening the Seoul – Pyeonchang travel time from 2.5 hours on the highway to just an hour by train. The line was actually planned regardless of the Olympics, but the awarding of the Games to Korea provided the impetus to finally get it built; the Gangneung KTX is therefore arguably the main legacy of Pyeongchang 2018.

The new line runs from the city of Wonju across to Gangneung; trains will run along existing tracks from Incheon & Seoul to Wonju, and then onto the new tracks from there.

The stations on the new line are:

Manjong (in Wonju)
Hoengseong
Dunnae
Pyeongchang
Jinbu
Gangneung

The stops in Seoul – Incheon are Incheon Airport, Geomam, Seoul Station, Cheongnyangni, and Sangbong (Incheon Airport & Geomam are only included during the Olympic period). During the Olympics 35 trains per day will originate from Seoul Station, Cheongnyangni, or Sangbong; Cheongnyangni (in the northeast of the city) has the highest frequency of service. Furthermore, 16 trains per day will originate from Incheon Airport and stop at Geomam plus Seoul Station and/or Cheongnyangni on the way through to Jinbu and Gangneung.

There’s an accurate map here (and that’s a cool site if you’re interested in Korea and a bit of an infrastructure geek!). The other maps on this page are approximate (I knocked them up on Google Maps):

This line will of course be of great benefit to the population in the region, but also game-changing for us skiers and boarders wanting to get to Korea’s best ski resorts from Seoul – travel times will be significantly reduced for a number of Gangwon-do resorts, including but not limited to the Olympic host resorts, as follows (with closest station in brackets):

Click on each resort name for its Snow Guide Korea review, with full access details including how the journey is expected to work using the Gangneung KTX.

The journey time from Seoul Station to Gangneung is just under 2 hours, for a fare of 27,600 won ($30 US); Cheongnyangni to Pyeongchang is just over an hour.

Tickets can be booked up to 30 days in advance (extended to 60 for the Olympics), and you can do this on the Korail website. If you’re planning on staying in Seoul for the Olympics and taking the train to the venues, there are three key bits of advice – take advantage of the Pyeongchang Pass if you’re making repeated round-trips, reserve your train seats ASAP (i.e. 60 days before) as they’re likely to be at capacity, and try to stay as close as possible to Seoul’s Cheongnyangni Station (in the northeast of the city) if you’re concerned about journey times or late arrivals back in the city after late-finishing events. If you’re more concerned about being close to good nightlife, sightseeing etc (and don’t mind having to take taxis if you end up back at Cheongnyangni after the Metro finishes), it’s better to stay near Seoul Station.

If you’re trying to work out your Pyeongchang 2018 transportation & accommodation options, see here for more details

287 comments on “Gangneung KTX (Pyeongchang bullet train)”

Hi Eric, the ticket prices haven’t been confirmed yet, but based on distances the estimated price from Seoul to Gangneung will be 30000 – 40000 won (30 to 40 US dollars), and Seoul to Pyeongchang around 25000.

Are you going for the Olympics and staying in Seoul? Personally I would prefer to use the KTX, with a rental car as backup plan in case you can’t get KTX tickets.

Would you recommend staying next to Cheongnyangni station or an area close to Gangneung such as Yangyang or Sokcho? I was also considering Hoengseong
since it’s along the KTX line. Which one would make more sense?

I’m leaning toward Cheongnyangni station because I feel like it’s safer to stick with KTX but I’m worried for the events ending close to midnight. Do you think KTX back to Cheongnyangni will still run past midnight?

Hoengseong would be good for sure, if you can find anything there – it’s a very small town.

Getting back to Cheongnyangni from an event finishing at midnight probably won’t work – remember that you’ll have to take a shuttle bus from the venue to the KTX station, and this could involve some waiting time. We still don’t know the KTX schedule for sure, so it’s impossible to give a concrete answer; but it does seem unlikely you can make it back to Seoul after a midnight finish in Pyeongchang (or anyway, you’d need to leave early). Something close to Gangneung is therefore better for late-finishing events. See my accomodation page for more details:

Hi again Emily, the schedule was finally announced and the last train back to Cheongnyangni leaves Gangneung at 1am, stopping at Jinbu at 1.24, so midnight finishing events should actually be ok for making it back to Seoul the same night.

I’m afraid we’re STILL waiting for them to announce the timetables… I feel your frustration!

To be honest though, I’m not optimistic about your being able to get the KTX back to Seoul after a midnight finish in Gangneung. Even if there is a midnight train, remember you’ll still have to get from the venue to the KTX station.

Hopefully they come up with some 1am trains to solve all these issues, but if they don’t you’ll need to either be ready to leave the event slightly early, or ready to spend the night in Gangneung and catch an early train back

Hi again Hannah, ok so the schedule was finally announced, and the last train from Gangneung back to Seoul (terminating at Cheongnyangni Station) leaves at 1am. So I think you’ll be ok with a midnight finish, just make sure you don’t get caught out by possible long lines for the shuttle bus (be ready to jump in a cab if needed).

Let me know if you have any more questions, and I hope you have an awesome time coming to Korea!

I can’t find this 1am train. We have tickets to opening ceremonies but can’t figure out a way to get back to our hotel in Seoul. Help! Don’t know if we should plan to eat the cost of the tickets or plan to sleep on the street. Not ideal for “opening” day. I’ve tried Gangneung to Cheongyang ni and Gangneung to Seoul. Anything else I can try??

Hi Elaine, after the opening ceremony there’s a 0:44 to Sangbong, and a 1:24 to Cheongnyangni. If you don’t see them on the Korail site, it’s likely just because they’re after midnight so you need to set the date for the 10th. Go here and set the date for Feb 10th and the hour to 0:00, and check from Jinbu to Sangbong & Cheongnyangni, and you’ll see those trains. I’m afraid they’re already fully booked though, so you won’t be able to reserve them either.

Standing tickets are also available, but you can only buy those in Korea so make that your first priority after landing (you can do it at the KTX counter in the airport). If you feel that’s too risky, you might have to consider switching your accommodation that night to Pyeongchang/Gangneung.

Sorry you’re having issues… if you just google “Korail” that should get it for you.

Or perhaps it’s a problem with your browser settings for popup windows? I say this because the Korail site usually tries to open one or two popups when you load it; if your browser is auto-blocking them, it could be preventing the site from loading. Try checking your settings and changing it if you have it set to autoblock popup windows, then try Korail again.

When are you going? If it’s after the new Gangneung KTX train opens in December, the fastest way would be to go via Seoul on the KTX i.e. main KTX line from Busan to Seoul Station, then the Gangneung KTX from there to Pyeongchang Station.

Alternatively you could travel up the east coast by train or bus from Busan to Gangneung, then take the KTX from there to Pyeongchang Station. This route is much slower, but also cheaper.

hmmm, it’s really hard to say, sorry! The schedule still hasn’t been announced, we just know that the service will start some time in December. I’ll post an announcement when we finally know the start date!

Hi again Yanni, bad news I’m afraid, the new KTX starts on the 22nd so that won’t be an option for you. So I think your best route from Busan will be to take the SRT from Busan Station to Suseo Station, then Seoul Metro to Gangbyeon Station (20 mins), then the highway bus from Dong Seoul Terminal to Jangpyeong (2 hours), and finally the Phoenix Park shuttle bus from Jangpyeong bus terminal to the resort. Details on Seoul to Phoenix Park by bus here: http://www.snowguidekorea.com/ski-resorts/gangwondo/phoenix-park-ski-resort/

All of the ski resorts will have real snow in mid-December; Alpensia has no skiing this season though, so definitely avoid Alpensia if your 8-year old wants ski lessons.

Basically, if you want to do a day trip from Seoul, as you have 3 kids I’d recommend Vivaldi Park or Konjiam for the ease of access. Whereas if you want to go and actually stay at a resort, High1, Yongpyong, or Muju are probably the best choices. (they all have sledding & English-speaking instructors available)

Can I purchase the train ticket from Seoul to Jinbu station?
I plan to visit Alpensia on 25th December 2017. Will it be available? If Yes, I have plan to stay in Terrace on the cloud, where is the nearer station? Is it Jinbu?
Please advise.
Thank you

Yes, Jinbu is the correct station. You can get tickets from Seoul to Jinbu, but they’re not available yet – Korean train tickets are usually available 30 days in advance, though we’re still waiting for the schedule announcement for the new train. This page will be updated as soon as we know the schedule!

Great information for those of us coming over for the Olympics, thank you for posting this! I plan to purchase a Pyeongchang Pass for the duration of my visit. You specifically mention “reserve your train seats ASAP”. Will KTX trains require a reservation for an actual seat on the train(s) that riders plan to use? I assumed with the Pyeongchang Pass you would be guaranteed admission and seats would be first come, first serve until capacity is reached. Will I need to make a reservation for a seat on the specific train(s)/time(s) I intend to travel on IN ADDITION to purchasing my PyeongChang Pass? Thanks for clarifying. Also, do KTX trains allow riders to stand if all seats are occupied?

First of all, yes Korail recently announced you’ll be able to stand on the Gangneung KTX if there are no seats available on the train you want to ride, so capacity should be adequate.

As for reservations, yes from my understanding of it you do need to make a seat/standing reservation for the specific train you wish to ride, in addition to the pass you hold. If you want to actually have a seat, I suggest doing this 30 days in advance! Of course it’s hard to know which train you’ll be wanting to board, especially if coming back to Seoul directly after an event finishes in Pyeongchang, so it may not be practical in such a case to book ahead… in that case, I guess you’ll just have to make the reservation on the day and put up with standing for an hour.

Btw are you planning to stay in Seoul, and have you booked yet? (You need to be careful not to stay too far from the KTX stations)

Le Meridien is in Gangnam, near Shinnonhyeon Station… from there it’s half an hour by Metro to Seoul Station (1 transfer) or 35 minutes (2 transfers) to Cheongnyangni Station (the latter has more KTX departures for Pyeongchang)

Hello !
I’m comnig to Korea for the Paralympic Games, and I’ve booked a hotel room in Gangneung. My question is : I was told we can take the shuttle for free with our ticket for the daily competition. Is there a shuttle from Gangneung railway station direct to Alpensia ( for biathlon and cross counrty skiing), or do we have to take the train ( KTX or other ) from Gangneung to Jinbu station, and then a shuttle to go to Alpensia ( nordic venue)? And, in that case, is the train free too, with our competition ticket ( it was the case in Sochi )… And, last but not least, are all the shuttles and trains accessible in wheelchair? Thansk in advance for your help, because we don’t have many informations about the transportation system during the Games…not yet !!!

Hello, good questions! I’m afraid I can’t give 100% accurate answers, but to the best of my knowledge:

I’m not aware of any direct shuttles from Gangneung to the alpine venues. I think you should expect and plan for taking the KTX to Jinbu first (and if there does then turn out to be a direct shuttle from Gangneung, treat it as a welcome bonus!)

I’m also not aware of any suggestion of free KTX journeys for event ticket holders; so, again, you should budget for paying for the KTX, then if you do manage to ride for free it’s a bonus

Wheelchair accessibility can be an issue at older train stations in Korea but more recent constructions are all fully accessible. As this KTX line and its stations have literally just been built, I think it’s safe to assume the trains & stations will be fine. As for the shuttle buses, one would assume that the organisers will make sure they’re also wheelchair accessible – but I can’t say this with any guarantee.

I’m going to try and get more concrete answers to your questions, and will post an update here once I have better information!

Hello again Myriam, sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but the info’s only just come out. Regarding wheelchair accessibility, apparently some shuttle buses will be accessible, but not all of them.

The shuttle bus schedule for the Olymoics was finally released the other day, and you can see it here; it’s only in Korean unfortunately, but it shows you can in fact go from Gangneung Station to Alpensia by shuttle bus. However, this involves 3 changes of bus (the route is TS22 > TS26 > TS31 > TS10 and would take minimum 90 minutes (plus anything up to an hour of waiting time). On the other hand from Jinbu Station it’s just shuttle TS4 to Alpensia, taking 20 minutes.

One other thing to note, though, is that this shuttle schedule is for the Olympics – it’ll probably be a bit different for the Paralympics.

I’ve made a Paralympics page here where I’ll post any transportation updates as & when we get further information, so keep checking back!

Am I correct to understand that we should buy KTX tickets from Seoul to Pyeongchang Station then take shuttle bus to Phoenix Snow Park for the ski programmes, and to Gangneung Station for skating programmes?
Would there be shuttle bus service from Gangneung Station to Gangneung Speed Skating Oval? Our programme finished at 2200, would it be too late to catch the last KTX train back to Seoul?

You have that mostly correct, just be careful about the alpine events as some are at Phoenix Park (near Pyeongchang Station), but the majority are at Yongpyong, Alpensia, and Jeongseon (all near Jinbu Station).

That aside, yes you need to buy KTX tickets, then take a spectator shuttle bus from the station to your event. And yes, there’ll be shuttle buses between the speed skating venue and Gangneung Station – unfortunately we still don’t know the KTX schedule, so I’m afraid I can’t yet advise you on the last KTX time. As soon as the schedule is announced, I’ll update the info on this page, so keep checking back.

Thanks for the update, Simon.
We would be heading to Phoenix Snow Park for the Free Style Skiing programme and understand that we should disembark KTX trains at Jinbu Station for shuttle service.
Then for the Alpine Skiing programme, is it that we should also get off at Jinbu Station then take shuttle bus to Daewallyeong Transport Mall for further shuttle service to Yongpyong Alpine Centre?
As for the skating programme in Gangneung Oval, is it that we should head to Gangneung Station then to take shuttle bus to the skating centre.
For each of these connecting shuttle service, are you aware the duration of travel to the respective sports venues, such that we could plan ahead of which KTX train to take to ensure we arrive on time when the programme starts.
Thanks again.

Be careful – Phoenix Park is near Pyeongchang Station, not Jinbu Station. So for your freestyle event, take the shuttle from Pyeongchang Stn. The road distance is around 10km

For Yongpyong, I’m expecting there to be a direct shuttle from Jinbu Stn to Yongpyong, which is about 15-20km road distance (mostly on the highway). Have you read somewhere that you have to change shuttles?

For Gangneung Oval, yes it’s just a couple of km from Gangneung Station.

In each case it obviously depends on traffic etc, but I would think all of those shuttles would take 20-25 minutes (or less) in good conditions. But do also bear in mind that you might also have to queue up for a while to actually board the shuttle buses, so add some time on for that possibility

I notice from other websites that there are private transportation offered to different Olympics venues. Since we would be heading to
Phoenix Snow Park, Yongpyong Alpine Centre and Gangneung Speed Skating Oval, money and traveling time aside, are you aware whether private vehicles or taxi could actually take passengers all the way to these venues? Or, would the driver simply be requested to drop off people at shuttle bus centre for further distribution.

People driving to the Olympics have to park at one of the parking areas, then ride shuttle buses to the venues. My assumption is that taxi drivers have to follow the same procedure and drop passengers at the park & ride areas. Are you heading to those 3 venues on the same day?

Shuttle TS15 connects Pyeongchang Station & Jangpyeong Bus Terminal to Phoenix Park, so you could have a taxi drop you at one of those (Jangpyeong Bus Terminal is slightly closer) and jump on the shuttle from there.

For Yongpyong to the speed skating the route is TS17 > TS12 > TS31 > TS26 (or TS20), which takes at least 90 minutes (plus waiting & transfer times). You could do the TS31 leg (Daegwallyeong parking area to North Gangneung parking area) by taxi, which would speed things up a bit. The other route is by KTX: TS17 > TS5 > KTX (Jinbu to Gangneung) > TS22

Wow, that’s very useful information.
As for Yongpyong Alpine Centre, which parking area would you suggest to drop us off on 18 Feb.
Besides, do you have any idea about the distance between Seoul (where we stay) and Pyeongchang, Yongpyong and Guangneung such that we could estimate the traveling time. Coz, I was having difficulty to do that in Google map for Korean places?!

Yeah Google Maps kinda sucks in Korea unfortunately! Naver Map is much better – but it’s only in Korean. What travel times are you trying to estimate? Do you mean by car from Seoul to Pyeongchang? If so, that’s normally around 2.5 hours, but I’d budget for longer as the traffic might be bad.

For Yongpyong, you’ll want to be dropped at Jinbu Station (then shuttle TS5 & TS17) or Daegwallyeong Parking Area (then shuttle TS12 & TS17). There is also a Yongpyong Rainbow Parking Area (where shuttle TS17 goes from), but from what I can make out that’s just for bus transfers – but do ask your driver if he’d be able to drop you there, as it would be faster if possible.

I have just checked the timetable available in the pyeongchang pass webpage. According to the timetable, all of the KTX trains of the Kyungkang line start from Seoul station before January 25 . If I have to take KTX to go from Incheon Airport to Jinbu station on December 26, how can I do?

Hi Dicky, I think that’s the timetable from start of service in December until January 25th – presumably (hopefully!) because they’re planning extra services during the Olympics. The KTX is supposed to start service some time in December, but we still don’t know exactly what date. Hopefully you’ll be able to use it on December 26th, but this can’t be guaranteed.

If it’s not in service yet by then, you’ll need to take a bus from Dong Seoul Bus Station, which is located in front of Gangbyeon Station on Seoul Metro Line 2. You can go from Incheon Airport to Gangbyeon Station by Metro with one change (from Airport Line to Line 2) at Hongik University, which would take around 100 minutes. Then the bus will be about 2.5 hours from there.

Obviously it’s much better if you can use the KTX to go direct! As soon as the KTX start date is known I’ll update this page, so keep checking back!

Hi Simon,
Even if the Kyungkang line operates on December 26, I can’t go directly from Incheon Airport to Jinbu station by taking KTX as the train goes from Seoul to Gangneung. That means I have to take AREX train to Seoul first, and then transfer to Kyungkang line for taking KTX to Jinbu station. Am I right?

Ah, yeah sorry you’re right about that – it looks like the direct KTX trains from the airport to Jinbu won’t be running until late January. So yes, you’d need to change at Seoul Station… but that’s still much better than taking the bus from Gangbyeon!

Hi again Dicky – the start date for the KTX is now confirmed to be December 22nd, so you’ll be able to use it! AREX to Seoul Station, then KTX to Jinbu; total travel time of around 3 hours depending on the connection.

I am looking to attend a ski jump event that ends at 9:30 pm. Do you think we could make it on a KTX to go back to Seoul that night? I know the timetable isn’t up but maybe I could catch the midnight one, or earlier if possible?

As you can see, the last train back to Seoul from Jinbu (the station you’ll be using) on that schedule is at 21:50, which would probably be impossible to catch if you leave at 21:30 due to having to wait for & take the shuttle bus from event venue to train station.

However, there will be a different schedule in place for February – hopefully (surely?!) with later trains on it!

Hi again Tricia, ok so we finally know the schedule! You can check it here (page 6). As you can see, the last train from Jinbu is at 1.24 am so you’re all good! (last one all the way to Seoul Station is 23.34)

Thank you for your responses! Actually the ski jump events ends at 10:30 pm, not 9:30. Do you think one hour is enough time to wait and take the shuttle bus to the train station? I would prefer to take the 23.34 train to go back to Seoul station!

Hey Patricia, wow, it’s really hard to say! The road distance from Alpensia to Jinbu Station is a good 20km; that’s mostly along the highway, so in light traffic it should take maybe 25 mins. But of course the traffic may be heavy, so it could well take longer. Furthermore we have no idea how long you’ll have to wait for the bus; it could be super-efficient, but there could be a long wait.

The 23:34 train is certainly far more attractive than the 0:44 time, due to both the time and the terminus (Seoul Station rather than Sangbong). However, if you’re buying single tickets I’d probably err on the side of caution and go for 0:44 (or even 1:24 to Cheongnyangni if you don’t want to deal with a taxi from Sangbong).

But if you’re using a rail pass, I think you can make the reservation for 23:34 and hope for the best, as if you miss it you can just make a new reservation at the station for the next train… well… assuming they keep the ticket office open that late, that is… damn, that’s only just occurred to me! Something else to try and find out! Will update as best can, as soon as I can!

Here we go: “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport revealed Monday that a launching ceremony for the KTX Gyeonggang high-speed train line will be held in Gangneung on December 21st with service to officially begin the next day.”

Well spotted and thanks for commenting to point it out. Very good to see there’s a 1am train from Gangneung, that means people can make it back to Seoul after late events. I’ll get this page updated now, cheers!

Thanks for the updates! This is the best page by far for updates on transportation options (and convinced me to stay in Seoul instead of trying to find mucho expensive and scarce accommodations near the venues).

Just saw this now. Yes indeed, although now after a first attempt at reserving KTX Seollal seats on the pass (not as bad as I had feared, but let’s see if extra seats open up during the special resevation period), I may need to base myself in a more strategically located area for those early-morning and late-evening trains. Will also have to see about bus shuttles between venues (like Phoenix to Alpensia, for example) or whether train reservations are required!

Hi again, you can see the shuttle bus diagram here (scroll down), only in Korean unfortunately but Phoenix Park to Alpensia is TS6 > change at Jinbu Station > TS4. The TS31 shuttle runs between Pyeongchang (Daegwallyeong Parking Area) and Gangneung (North Gangneung Parking Area). Let me know if you need any more help understanding the diagram!

Hi Simon, thanks for all your help so far! Much appreciated! Just wondering though(maybe I missed it somewhere on this website), is there a website to find out more details on the shuttle busses that will link the main Olympic-games-serving stations to the venues? Also, are the shuttles free? And finally would you have an idea of when their schedules will be released? Thanks again!

Another question Simon!
For events at Yongpyong and Alpensia, there is a shuttle bus from Jinbu station. However will there be a shuttle bus linking the two venues? Or will you have to walk or get a taxi from one to the other? Thanks!

Hi Michael, the official transportation page is here, but I’m afraid it doesn’t give much info about the shuttles other than that they will exist! So unfortunately I have absolutely no idea what the schedules will be like. I do believe they will be free though.

As for direct shuttles between Yongpyong and Alpensia, I’d certainly hope there will be but again I have no idea if there will or not. Would seem a bit crazy to have people having to double back all the way to Jinbu Station, but then security & access at Olympics venues is very rigid so it isn’t unthinkable.

Hello!
I have looked everywhere to see where I can buy a single day KTX train ticket (Seoul-Gangneung) as I am going only for one hockey game. I can only see the 5 day pass and 7 day pass. Where can I buy it?

Hello, Many thx for your kindly info collection.My questions is: Do you know the arrurate location of “Manjong Station”? Is it far from Wonju Station? I think Manjong is a good accommodation base to visit games and Seoul,Do you have any good suggestion for the hospitality near “Manjong” Thanks in advance!

Hi Stanley, Manjong Station is on the northwest edge of Wonju City, not far from Oak Valley Ski Resort. Manjong Station is about 4km due west of the main Wonju Station. There isn’t any accommodation around Manjong, so you’d want to stay in central Wonju and take local transportation to the KTX. There are loads of hotels in Wonju, but they’re already pretty booked out. You can still see a few available here though.

simon, you seem to be very knowledgeable about the travel arrangements.
I have a difficult predicament- my sons compete in Nordic Combined, and there’s about a 60 % chance that one of them might qualify for the Olympics….but we wont know for sure until mid- January! We really don’t know what to do and whether to look into lodging and transportation options now, but I cant imagine they’re cancellable. it looks like everything near Alpensia is booked. and we cant afford to spend much on lodging so we might have to commute from Seoul. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! thanks!

Hi Paul – sounds like a difficult predicament, but also a pretty good one to be in!

Yes, if you book in mid-January I’d say it’ll be almost certainly impossible to find any reasonable accommodation in Pyeongchang/Gangneung. So yes, I’d say you should probably make your plans around staying in Seoul and commuting on the new KTX. Prices in Seoul will basically be normal (or perhaps slightly inflated but nothing crazy), and I’d suggest you go ahead and make a booking on Agoda – their cancellation policy means if you end up wanting to cancel in mid-Jan, you can do so and still get a full refund. You can search & book Seoul rooms on Agoda here (and you can see the specifics of their cancellation policy here)

As for the transportation, if you’d need to be going back & forth on multiple days you’d want to get the Pyeongchang Pass; but if you’d only need to do one or two round-trips, it’ll be cheaper to book the tickets individually. The pass is on sale until the end of January, while individual tickets become available 30 days in advance, so in both cases you can hold off on booking anything until your sons qualify (best of luck to them!)

Hello simon, Would like to ask can the Korail pass from Busan to Seoul also be used to Gangneung? Travel date won’t be during the time of Olympic. Would be on early January 2018. Would like to book the flexi one. Thanks so much for your help.

Hi Joshua, yes the regular Korail Pass can be used on the Gangneung KTX in January. In February & March it won’t be valid on that line, but in January it’s fine (see third bullet point here (in red) for confirmation)

For flexi 4 days. Lets say I go from Busan to Seoul on the 3rd January 2018. On the 4th I’m not using the train. Does it mean on the 5th January I still have 3 more days? Can the regular korail pass reserve seat at the Gangneung KTX? Really appreciate what you are doing right now. I’m planning to go to pyeongchang on the 5th January.

Hi Joshua, you just need to buy a ticket, which includes the seat reservation. Unless you mean using the Korail Pass or Pyeongchang Pass? In that case, yes you need to reserve a seat before riding the train.

We are staying at Welly Hilly (Dunnae) and are attending the ski jump final on the 10th (alpensia ski jumping). It should start around 9.30 and finish late around 11.30 pm. What would be the best option to head back Welly Hilly (shuttle bus? Train available to Dunnhae? Or really a taxi for the whole distance). I would really appreciate any help. thanks a lot!

Hi Daniel, well in theory the answer would be just to take the KTX back from Jinbu Station to Dunnae Station… however, the last train stopping at Dunnae leaves Jinbu at 22:34, so that’s no good. You could take the 0:44 train to Pyeongchang Station, then a taxi from there – it’s a distance of about 20km so shouldn’t break the bank. I’d probably try to get that taxi arranged in advance if that’s what you decide to do. And to be honest I’m not sure if there’s any other option other than renting a car.

Hi Simone, I definitely wouldn’t try to spend the night at Gangneung Station itself – I expect they’ll close the station overnight, and it’s going to be absolutely freezing outside!

There’s a 6:00 a.m. train from Seoul arriving Gangneung at 7:58, which looks to me like your best option. But if you don’t feel confident about that and want to travel the night before and spend the night near Gangneung Station, you should look for a 24-hour cafe or restaurant; for the price of a coffee you can wait there all night (McDonalds, for example, is good for this).

Hi Ilia, I think there will – I don’t know this for sure, but KTX stations do usually have lockers. However, I would expect that during the Olympics they’ll be very busy so it might prove very difficult to find an available locker at short notice. In other words, I’d allow plenty of extra time if you need to find a locker!

First, many thanks to you for this excellent and informative website. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

We will be staying in Gangneung for one week during the games and need to transit to events in the mountain cluster on 5 of the days. What is our best transit method to get from Gangneung to the mountain cluster events and back each day ? We were wondering if there is a shuttle or local train of some type, or will our best option be to take the new KTX Kyungkang line to the events? We plan to use the new KTX line to get to and from the ICN airport so are trying to decide if we should purchase those train tickets individually or if we will be using the line for transit to the events then should get the one week pass ? Thank you.

Hi Chris, thanks for the nice comment, it’s always good to hear the site’s helpful!

Yes, for Gangneung to the mountain cluster you should take the KTX one stop to Jinbu Station, or two stops to Pyeongchang Station for events at Phoenix Park. From the KTX station you then take a free shuttle bus to the venue itself.

Tickets from Gangneung to Jinbu/Pyeongchang are only in the 7-8000 range, and Incheon Airport to Gangneung is 40000. So by my calculations it will actually be cheaper for you to buy individual tickets, rather than the 7-day pass.

Hi! I hope you can help, as I’m confused about the date that the KTX to Pyeongchang would start operating :/ I thought the timetable (link: http://www.letskorail.com/etc/pyeongChang/eng_timetable.pdf ) meant that it would only start running on Jan 25, 2018, but I’m seeing on the news that it turns out it’s operational now — is that correct? I’m arriving on Thursday (Dec 28) with a little child and a senior citizen, so the KTX would have been mighty convenient. But due to the uncertainty, I booked a Purple Ski Bus instead, since it would take us directly from the Incheon airport to the Alpensia resort. Do you by any chance have confirmed info that the KTX is now operating, and we can simply take that from the Incheon airport straight to Alpensia? Thanks much for any info you can provide! 🙂

Hello Ina, yes the KTX is now fully operational, however the direct trains from Incheon Airport will only be during the Olympics. This means to take the KTX on the 28th you’d first take the AREX (airport express subway line) from Incheon Airport to Seoul Station (70 minutes), then the KTX from there (90 minutes). Then after reaching Jinbu Station, you’d need to either take a taxi to Alpensia, or take a shuttle bus to Yongpyong followed by the Alpensia shuttle from there. Including transfers this is going to take 4 hours or so, and be quite a lot of hassle – to be honest I think you should stick with the bus reservation you’ve already made!

Hi Simon, I am so glad to have found your site! Most of the sites I’ve checked out in my research for ways to reach Alpensia / Pyeongchang were Korean websites that I found difficult to decipher. I really hope you can help me out. I’ll be taking my family to Holiday Inn Resort Pyeongchang on January 13-15, and am hoping to go straight there upon touching down in Incheon International Airport. Would you be able to provide me with clear directions on how to go about this? Backreading a bit, it seems that the KTX train coming from the airport will not yet be available in time for our trip? Thank you so much for your help! 🙂

Yes that’s correct, the direct trains from Incheon Airport will only be during the Olympics. This means to take the KTX on January 13th you’d first need to take the AREX (airport express subway line) from Incheon Airport to Seoul Station (70 minutes), then the KTX from there (90 minutes). Then after reaching Jinbu Station, you’d need to either take a taxi to Alpensia, or take a shuttle bus to Yongpyong followed by the Alpensia shuttle from there. Including transfers this is going to take 4 hours or so if you do the last bit by taxi, or 5 hours if you take the shuttle buses.

The best option for you is going to be to take the Purple Ski Bus instead, as it goes direct from the airport to Alpensia resort. This will be cheaper, and while it’ll take the same amount of time it’s much less hassle as you don’t have to deal with any transfers or lugging your luggage around Seoul Station. Departures at 7:30, 9:00, 11:00, 15:00, 19:30, and you can book it here. Hope this helps!

Really appreciate your wealth commuter knowledge! I will be a volunteer at the Olympics and they say we should take the KTX to Manjong station where they will have shuttles operating to Yonsei University Wonju Campus. Unfortunately, I will be arriving before the shuttles are functional. From your experience/knowledge, are there many taxi’s at Manjong station? Do you know how much the fare would be?

Hi Sarah, I would certainly expect there to be taxis available at Manjong Station, but this isn’t something I’ve confirmed with my own eyes as I haven’t been there yet.

However, looking at the location of the campus, if you’re going there by taxi I think it might be more convenient to take a highway bus from Seoul Express Bus Terminal to Wonju, then a taxi from Wonju bus terminal to the campus. I say this because the bus terminal is central and therefore quite a bit closer to the campus than either Wonju Station or Manjong Station – the campus is south of town, but Manjong Station is quite far out to the northwest. I’d guesstimate the taxi fare from the bus terminal at around 10000 KRW, and perhaps 15000 from Wonju Station and 20000 from Manjong Station – but please take these as very rough guesses, because that’s what they are!

I will also be volunteering for the Olympics and arriving on February 1st. I was checking the schedule for the KTX from Incheon Airport to Manjong station and it seems that the train won’t be stopping at Manjong station? This is just my interpretation and I was wondering if you may have a better understanding of how the schedule works. If so, please let me know! Also, have you purchased your Korail pass? Any luck there? If yes, please advise me on how you did it.

Hi again Nicole, I just replied to your other comment below, but for a bit more clarity – the KTX trains running from the airport that week don’t stop at Manjong (or anywhere else between Seoul & Pyeongchang), but you can ride that KTX from the airport to Seoul Station, then switch to another KTX train stopping at Manjong.

Great questions and answers. All your information is extremely helpful. Is it possible to purchase just a single round trip ticket from Seoul to Gangneung during the games on the KtX (going to Pyeongchang one day and returning to Seoul the next) without having to purchase a 3-day KORAIL pass? If so, how do I book it (and can I do it greater than 30 days out)? Thanks

Yes absolutely you can just buy regular tickets without needing to buy a pass, no problem at all. You can book on the Korail website, or you can go to the ticket machines or ticket counters at Seoul Station (or other KTX stations like Yongsan & Cheongnyangni). Tickets are available 30 days in advance, and demand will be high so it’s probably a good idea to get it done on the earliest possible date.

Thanks for all the great information. I just went on the Korail site to look at KTX tickets (not the pass) and apparently for our arrival date (Feb 8) into Incheon, most of the trains are sold out even though it is still more than 30 days out. Do they have seats seserve for Pass holders? What do you suggest we do?

Yes, Pyeonchang Pass holders are already able to make early seat reservations. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to score seats, but standing tickets are also available so you should still be able to get on your preferred train.

Go on the site 30 days before and hopefully you can make standing reservations. If not, I guess you’ll have to do it by bus, but I don’t think that’ll be necessary.

Hello,
First I like the information you’ve gathered. You’ve done a good job.
I have a question about reserving seats. I bought the Pyeongchang Korail passes and am trying to reserve seats. The problem is that, as part of the reservation process, it’s asking what kind of train I’ll be taking. The options are, Normal, O-Train, V-Train, S-Train, and so on. Do you know which one I should select?
Thanks!

Hi Lori, seat reservations are available 30 days in advance. If you’re trying to make reservations for February, that’ll be the reason it’s not working. Try again at the 30-day mark and it should work!

You are the BEST!
I have been following your Q&A now for the past two months and your info has been prompt and informative.
Now my turn, WE are staying in Seoul at an AirBnB near Seoul Station. First day of my son’s event is February 18th but not until the night. So we have our KTX passes but still can’t book seats as it is the last day of the Lunar Festival. Our plan is to go directly into the coastal cluster of Gangenung and wander about and try and find Canada House. We then plan to take a shuttle up to the Sliding Center for the bobsleigh events which starts at 9:30pm. WE have reserved seats on the last train leaving Jinbu but it only takes us Cheongnyangni. It been stated that if you have a ticket to the event the shuttle is free. Do you know if there is a schedule of shuttles yet?

Your son’s competing? Awesome! So, yes the shuttles are free, but as far as I can make out there’s no schedule as such – there’ll be shuttle boarding points outside the stations (and various other places) and the shuttles will just go back & forth from there to the venues. So you get off the train, find the shuttle bus area, show your ticket, and get on the bus / join the line. I have no idea how efficient it’ll be – there may be a wait, there may not, so obviously allow plenty of extra time in case there is. Also it looks like you may have to change shuttle buses, so again allow plenty of time!

Heading back, a taxi from Cheongnyangni to Seoul Station should be somewhere in the region of 20000 won.

Hope you have a great trip, and I’ll be cheering for your son! (Team Canada I presume, as you’re heading to Canada House? I used to live in Vancouver so tend to cheer for Canada anyway, as we don’t have so many Brits to cheer on!)

Hi there,
I’m wondering if I have an event near the Jinbu stop in the afternoon and at the Gangneung at night, do I have to buy a separate ticket from Seoul to Jinbu, then Jinbu to Gangneung, and finally to Gangneung to Seoul? Or is there an easier way to do this. Also, how long will is take to get from Jinbu to Gangneung?
Thank you!

Checking back in now that my flight and hotel are booked. I’ll be staying right next to Seoul Station. Unfortunately my Olympic dates align exactly with Seollal, and as you are probably aware, KTX tickets cannot be booked for the 2/14 – 2/18 period until January 17th. There’s a major situation brewing here, as it was just revealed that Koreans will have the first crack at ticket reservations for those dates beginning at 6 AM on 1/17, while foreigners will have to wait until 4 PM to have a chance to book, that’s a 10 hour head start. In reading other sources it sounds like KTX tickets during Seollal have 100% sold out in previous years in less than 1 hour. This has me incredibly concerned about my ability to secure reservations to get back and forth from Pyeongchang each day. There are thousands of people who have purchased the Pyeongchang Pass, who now probably won’t be able to book spots on the trains each day between 2/14 and 2/18. Is there any talk of this impending issue in Korea? Would you have any recommendations on how this issue could be raised to (Korail customer service is terrible)? It’s possible tons of foreigners who have spent considerable money and time to get to Korea will be stranded and unable to travel to/from the venues.

Yeah I agree it’s completely ridiculous that this is happening bang in the Olympics, and without much warning. I would anticipate that you won’t be able to get a seat – however, although the KTX trains are usually seating only, the Pyeongchang KTX will have standing tickets so you should still be able to get on the trains you want to. You’ll probably have to stand on crowded trains, which sucks, but you should be able to get to your events.

Go on their website as soon as reservations open on Jan 17th and hopefully you can book the trains you want. Good luck! (and let me know if you’re successful)

We have tickets for the Winter Olympics and a place to stay in Wonju. Unfortunately, we don’t speak or read Korean, so we’d like to confirm that we understand the KTX information.

Could you confirm if the Wonju station, which appears on Google Maps, is the same as the Manjong station for the KTX? Do you have any idea how feasible it would be to travel around Wonju on foot – is it feasible to walk to the KTX station in Wonju? (Basically, is the city pedestrian friendly?)

Thanks so much for your help and all the great information you’ve been posting for those of us traveling from afar for these Olympics. Really appreciate it.

That’s a no – Wonju Station and Manjong Station are entirely separate. Wonju Station is fairly central (located in the northern section of central Wonju), while Manjong Station is a few km out to the northwest.

Wonju’s pedestrian friendly and you can walk around downtown no worries, but it’d be quite time-consuming to walk to Manjong Station. There are some local trains from Wonju Station which stop at Manjong, but only a few per day. Taxis are going to be your best option, obviously it depends where exactly your accommodation is but I estimate up to 10 dollars(ish) by taxi.

Hope you have an awesome time, and let me know if you have any more questions!

PS unfortunately Google Maps doesn’t work well in Korea, and isn’t yet up to date with the new KTX stations. Download Naver Map instead – it’s only in Korean I’m afraid, but once you find what you’re looking for the accuracy is excellent. To search for Manjong Station, copy & paste 만종역 into the search box

We will be staying in Gangneung for the Olympics and based on your advice will take the KTX to either Jinbu or Pyeongchang station (depending on which events we go to) for the mountain events. My question is do we need to book those KTX tickets in advance or are they something we should be able to purchase once we get to the games ?

Hi Chris, I would book them in advance if you know which trains you want to be on, but you should (hopefully!) also be able to get standing tickets on the day. Only way to be 100% sure though is to book ahead – when (if) doing so, make sure to factor in plenty of time for travel between the stations and the venues.

It is HIGHLY recommended that you book your tickets in advance. “Standing Room” tickets have been mentioned as being available… but they are limited per train, and assuming that you can get a standing spot… is a decision you’ll have to live with, when/if it doesn’t happen. PLEASE be aware of the Seollal holiday booking fiasco that is occuring with the Korail tickets during Feb. 14th through Feb. 18th. Due to the ticketing policy of Korail, to pre-sell tickets only to Korean residents, the KTX trains may be completely sold-out when tickets go on sale to “foreigners”. Once again… do not assume that you will be able to use the trains during that time period. Efforts are being made (so far unsuccessfully) to change this policy… but Olympic fans may not be able to reach the venues for those 5 days. Please do everything possible to book ahead!

So i want to go to the olympics for two days. Stay in Seoul and take the train to Gangneung. The earliest event is 10 am, events for both days end at 23:30.
Is there a train that covers these times?? Any thoughts as to a hotel near the train station in Seoul.
Thanks for the help!

Hi Ken, yes there are trains at the times you need, see pages 5 & 6 here. For events finishing at 23:30, you can take the 0:20 (0:44 from Jinbu for the Mountain Cluster) to Sangbong Station (1:55), or the 1:00 (1:24 from Jinbu) to Cheongnyangni Station (2:34).

Sangbong and Cheongnyangi are located in the northeast of the city; neither of them is great to stay in, but Cheongnyangni is better. In fact, I’m not sure if Sangbong even has any accommodation. Dongdaemun is a good area to go for, as it’s quite near Cheongnyangni but also a good area for shops, restaurants and sightseeing, with good access to the rest of the city too. If you stay more centrally, near Seoul Station etc, you’ll have to do some long taxi rides after you get off the KTX at Cheongnyangi or Sangbong as the subway doesn’t run that late.

See hotels near Cheongnyangni/Dongdaemun here – seems to be plenty available in Dongdaemun, so that’s what I’d recommend.

I’m a volunteer for the Olympics and Paralympics and we’re supposed to undergo training before the start of the games. I arrive in Korea on Feb 1st and I was instructed to take the KTX to Manjong station from Incheon. I can’t understand the schedule as there seems to be no direct train from Incheon to Manjong. I’m not sure if I have to change trains. I arrive at 4:20 PM and if I take the 6:00 PM train from Incheon, it stops in Seoul and from there, where do I connect to get to Manjong???

Any help in making sense of the Korail schedule would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Nicole, that’s right, you’ll need to change trains at Seoul Station. Take the AREX (Airport Express) subway line from the airport to Seoul Station, then from there take the KTX to Manjong. Schedule here, page 3.

Let me know if you have any more questions, and hope you have a great time!

EDIT – actually, you could also take the KTX from the airport to Seoul Station, then change to the KTX for Manjong. This will be a bit more expensive than using the subway, but faster and a much easier transfer at Seoul Station. So probably the better option!

Our family will be staying in Dunnae station for 3 nights from 9 Feb 12 Feb. However we could not find KTX train from Dunnae to Jinbu on 9 Feb. How much taxi fare would be if we take taxi from Dunnae to Jinbu or Jinbu to Dunnae?

We will be staying in Gangneung for two days as our events for those days don’t end until very late. How will we be able to travel to/from the Coastal Cluster where the events are being held back and forth to our hotel, which is north of the venues in Jumumjin?

Hi, I have to be honest and say I know absolutely nothing about Jumumjin, however judging from the apparent size of the town and the location, I’d think your only option late at night will be to take a taxi. It’s about 20km, which should come in below 50000 won (as long as drivers don’t start jacking the prices up, anyway…)

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, It has been a wealth of knowledge and helped greatly in planning our trip.

I would like to ask a question. We are staying in Gangneung for the Winter Olympics and have purchased Pyeongchang Pass. Can you get to the Opening Ceremony and Sliding Centre (They seem to be close together) using the KTX from Gangneung or would it be better to use another form of transport.

Yes, you can take the KTX from Gangneung Station to Jinbu Station (it’s just one stop), then from Jinbu take an Olympic spectator shuttle to the ceremony stadium or the sliding centre (yes they’re close together, both at Alpensia Resort).

It may also be possible to take a direct shuttle bus from Gangneung Station to the event venues, but frankly speaking the information available about the shuttle buses is woeful so it’s hard to say! But given you already have rail passes, you may as well just jump on the KTX regardless.

Hi Simon,
What an amazingly helpful site, I really appreciate your attention to detail. I apologise if others have asked this, but I’m in frantic plan mode and don’t have time to read everything!
I have done the calculations and with three days of travel to/from Seoul to the venues, plus return trip to airport, the cost of the Pyeongchang Pass is about the same as the individual tickets we would buy.
If we both buy a pass, can we therefore reserve two seats together each time (does it allow us to enter the two pass numbers under the one reservation). I see its possible to just buy two tickets, but I don’t want to have to log in twice and reserve individual seats with our two separate passes and risk not sitting together.
I gather in my situation where $ is not saved, the benefit of the pass would be that if I miss my reserved train, with a pass I can just get online and (hopefully) reserve a seat on the next train, whilst I sit waiting on the shuttle bus? If I miss a single ticket reservation, it’s gone for good, is that correct? That seems very likely to happen a LOT, have the authorities thought about that?
Pity I didn’t read this one day earlier, as now I am going to miss the cut-off for getting my Commemerative Pass if I do buy the Pyeongchange pass!

I believe you do have to log in and make reservations separately with each pass. In any case, for many trains you may only be able to get standing tickets anyway.

And yes you’re right about the pass having the advantage of flexibility – if you miss a train you can get online to try book he next one, and also you can go to e ticket counter at the station and ask them to issue you a standing ticket for the next available train. With single reservations you’d have to pay again to do this, but with the pass there’d be no additional fee.

As a addition – I bought a Pyeongchang saver pass for two people, and can book 2 tickets (for 13th) under the same booking, it automatically gave me two seats together. So that answers the first question…I forgot that with two people travelling together, the saver pass is the way to go. Now good luck to all of us foreigners for the 17th in booking tickets!

Got all the tickets I needed! Amazing… However, unfortunately failed to print out two hard copy sets of the 8 before logging off the work computer with the faster internet….only trick now is where to find a record of my bookings, I haven’t been able to do that yet, even for those on the 13th that I booked a few days ago. Any suggestions where I would find a record of my bookings on the website would be appreciated (I am about to start an indepth hunt for them….)

A big thanks to you for posting such useful information. My family will be in Seoul during that period. Of which there are 3 days we will be staying at Vivaldi Resort for skiing. Wonder if you have any ideas is it possible to go to Gangneung or Pyeongchang venue for watching the games by public transportation? Is Vivaldi Resort anywhere near one of those new train stops along KTX? I’m also considering going to the venues from Seoul, instead of from Vivaldi Resort if public transportation is unavailable. Is it easier to go to the venues from Seoul rather than from Vivaldi? Many thanks

It’s easier to go to the Olympic venues from Seoul, as Vivaldi Park is nowhere near a KTX station. Although, if you’re willing to pay for a taxi you could take a taxi from Vivaldi Park to Hoengseong Station on the KTX line – this would save a LOT of time by avoiding Seoul. Then from Hoengseong it’s 3 stops to Jinbu Station (for the Mountain Cluster) or 4 stops to Gangneung. It’s about 25km from Vivaldi Park to Hoengseong in a straight line, but I guess the road distance is more like 40km due to the mountains… so, at a guess, you’d need to budget perhaps 50000 won for that taxi ride. But it would save you a couple of hours so might be worth it.

Hi, sorry I have another question. I’m just thinking of going there on a day trip, so would only consider buying a round trip tickets. Are non-pass holders allowed to purchase round trip tickets a month in advance? My intended day is any day within Feb 15 and Feb 20, 2018. I have to book tickets only on Feb 17 16:00pm or a month in advance? Does the reservation system accept visa payment? Sorry I have no ideas at all. Hope you can share with me anything you know about it. many thanks.

Ok, so if you want to go on February 15th, 16th, 17th, or 18th, it’s the Seollal holiday and the tickets become available on January 17th at 16:00 and will be very hard to get. If you want to go on February 19th or 20th, the tickets are already available (it’s 60 days advance booking during the Olympics). I strongly suggest that you go on the 19th or 20th! (and yes, as non-pass holders you can book ahead, no problem with that)

Hi Juergen, I’m not qualified to give a 100% gospel answer on this, but I would think it’s unlikely – my guess is you should probably only buy those tickets if you’re the right age! Sorry I can’t give a concrete answer though, you could try messaging the Pyeongchang Facebook page for an official response.

Good day.. my family would like to visit the pyeongchang for 1day trip only to see the olympics venue. Is it ok if we are non pass holder (pyeongchangkorailpass)
We’ll be there on feb8, can we book now in advance?

Hi Simon,
First I just want to compliment you on the amazing job you have done putting this site together and responding to people’s questions! Now hopefully you can help me with a couple of mine 🙂

We will be flying into ICN and staying in Gangneung for the Olympics. Do you have any idea how much time we should allow for between our flight arrival time and train departure time? I’m not sure how much time to allow for customs, collecting baggage, and getting to the train station. For example, if we are scheduled to arrive at 16:30, would it be recommend to book the 18:00, 19:00, or 20:00 train?

Also, if we have a flight on 2/18 at 11:15, do you think the 5:40 and/or 6:20 trains out of Gangneung will be sold out before we can book on the 17th due to the holiday? I dont believe there would be any other options to make that flight?

Immigration etc at Incheon is usually very efficient, but obviously they’re going to be busier than usual during the Olympics. It’s hard to give a definite answer, but using your example personally I think if landing at 16:30 I’d probably go for the 19:00 train. Will you have rail passes? If so, and you miss a train, you can just reserve the next available seats or standing tickets on (hopefully) the next train, so it isn’t such a risk to cut things tight. But if you don’t have passes and are using single tickets, you need to be a bit more careful about allowing enough time as you’d have to pay again if you missed it.

For your return journey, yes you’ll definitely need to be on one of those first 2 trains that day. I really don’t know if they’ll sell out before you’re able to book them or not… the conventional wisdom is that all trains book out immediately during the holidays, but given the early times and the fact it’s a very rural region I’m not sure. Best you can do is just be waiting online to book immediately at 16:00 Korean time on the 17th, and hopefully you can score seats.

If not, the standing tickets then become available and can be also be booked in advance but not online i.e. you need to get them in Korea. Meaning, if you can’t book seats then I’d make it the very first thing you do after clearing immigration to go to the KTX counter at the airport to buy standing tickets for your return trip.

Obviously there’d be a bit of a risk there, as we don’t know how many standing tickets are available per train or whether they’ll also sell out on those particular trains. Only other alternatives really would be to travel the day before, or drop something like 500 dollars on a taxi. Obviously not ideal, but anyway first things first try on the 17th and hopefully you can book one of those trains. Good luck!

Hi Simon,
Thanks for the info. I will definitely be waiting online on the 17th to try to book that ticket!

I have another question for you. When I go to the link for train schedules, it shows departure and arrival locations that include Incheon Airport 1T and 2T. But when I was booking tickets on line at Letskorail.com, it only offered Incheon Airport 1T as a departure/arrival option. Is 2T not available?

hmmm, that’s weird – Terminal 2 isn’t actually open yet (it’s opening on Jan 18th) so that could explain it, but I can already see both terminals on the Korail site. Perhaps they literally just updated it… sorry, I’m not sure what to suggest other than try again!

Hi Simon,
I figured out what I was doing wrong. I thought that all of the departure/arrival options were shown in the chart, but when I clicked the “I” in the alphabet row below the chart, both terminals came up for the Incheon airport.

I’ll be waiting online at 16:00 Korea time on the 17th to try to book that return!!

Hi Simon,
A concern has been brought up about taking luggage on the KTX trains. We have been told that there is no storage available for luggage larger than a carry on bag. Is this true? We will be staying for two weeks so we will be traveling with full size luggage. Will we need to find another transportation option?

Hi Sharon, no don’t change your travel plans, there’s space for larger luggage at the ends of the cars. If you’re boarding at the first station it’s probably a good idea to get there early so you can sort your luggage out before the train fills up

Hi Simon,
I just read all of these emails and searched and cannot find out which KTX station to use if I am flying into Gimpo airport. Do I use Seoul?
I need tickets for the 14th to Pyeonchang with return on the 16th. I am having a hard time. I bought the 5 day Pyeongcheong pass and I cannot see bookings for the 14th, only the 13th. Do I have to wait until January 17th?
Thanks!

Hi Jeff, yes that’s right you’d probably want to take the AREX (Airport Express subway line) from Gimpo to Seoul Station (35 mins), then the KTX from there. Alternatively, you could take the AREX 15 mins the other way to Geomam then the KTX from there; some trains stop at Geomam but not Seoul, some the other way round, some at both, so check the schedule and see which fits better with your landing time.

And yes I’m afraid you’re running into issues with the Lunar New Year holiday, you can’t book for Feb 14th & 16th until Jan 17th at 16:00 Korea time. Best you can do is be ready and waiting online at that time to see if you can manage to book. If not, you can use your Pyeongchang Pass to get the first available standing tickets. Good luck, and let me know if you manage to book on the 17th

Got my early morning wake up alarm on the 17th so I can be online in time for reserving tickets from ICN to Gangneung for Feb 16th. Crossed fingers.

So do I need to have an existing reservation to do this? I’ve read on here how people who have the passes can only book a ‘seat’ until 30 days from travel. Does this apply to me?

I am also preparing for alternatives should I have no luck whatsoever. Since I am starting from the first station (ICN: Station 2), is that location have a better shot of getting a ticket all the way to Gangneung?

If not, I plan to see if I can embark from other stations, whether it’s on the 16th or 17th. Which KTX station then can I take an alternative train line so I can hop on KTX all the way to Gangneung? In other words, can I take a regional train to Manjong so I can get to my final destination? Or anything beyond Seoul station will be fully booked?

Well, it’s 1pm here in Korea now and it looks like there’s still a decent number of seats available for when reservations open overseas in 3 hours. So you may find you can get the train you want, or something close to it. Fingers crossed!

No, you don’t need an existing reservation or a pass, you should be able to make single ticket bookings, and yes if you find the direct trains from the airport are already booked out, you should check from other places as only some trains originate at the airport, and those airport trains skip most other stations on the way. In this scenario, your second choice should be Seoul Station, third choice should be Cheongnyangi Station, and fourth choice should be Sangbong Station (these 3 are all reachable from the airport using the Seoul Metro)

Been awhile but I wanted to give you an update that I managed to get a ticket from ICN-Terminal 2 to Gangneung on my arrival date without issues when it opened for overseas customers. I have not been backed since. From what I’ve read, it’s fully booked already. So thank you for your detailed updates because if not for this key messaging, it would have been lost on us to make a separate reservation due to Lunar New Year celebrations. I suppose at some point, I should book my return trip just to make sure before it is unavailable.

I’ve only purchased 1 event ticket so far. It seems that there are still plenty of availability on a number of events. Not sure when I plan to book others. I may just wait and see when I’m on the ground and decide there. I feel like part of the Olympic experience is just being around the venues and interacting with fans, including watching events on big screen TVs.

On this note, I did read awhile back that Canada House will open its doors to the public for the first time. I’d love to check this out (and any other houses if we are allowed). Because you’ve been very helpful, I’d like to offer a chance to meet you and say thanks in person, shake your hand, maybe even buy you a drink (say, Canada House?). Wouldn’t hurt to get pointers on where to eat or sight see, either. Just a couple of ideas.

Again, appreciate all the excellent reporting. I can’t speak for all, but you’re a life saver for those who are coming from overseas.

Nice one, glad to hear you got the train you wanted! And yes, there are still plenty of tickets so you can just see what’s available and play it by ear.

Yeah, it would be great to meet up at Canada House – but actually I’m going to be in Seoul for most of the duration of the Olympics, and just pop over to Pyeongchang & Gangneung a couple times for events. I’m potentially looking at catching a hockey play-off or QF in Gangneung, so could try to meet then (Canada House is conveniently right next to the Olympic Park)… alternatively, are you going to be spending any time in Seoul? (doesn’t sound like it from your KTX queries)

I plan to devote 2/20-21 in Seoul since I’m flying out late morning on the 21st. When I was in Seoul in 2016, it was during the summer (June) so I was able to freely move around during my 24h layover. Having just explored Tokyo the day before, I was running on fumes already so I didn’t get to explore other parts of the city (especially the markets!).

While my main intent on this trip is to fully experience the Olympics, I’m also open to exploring Seoul further, particularly when my travel coincides with the Lunar New Year. I’m open to taking the KTX really any day if there’s a compelling option to explore (and I’m able to travel). This is the reason why I haven’t booked a return train back because I’m keeping my options open (though I need to close the books on this). I believe we are able to change train times after booking, correct?

I take it you’re base out of Seoul. Any recommendations during my day long excursion on the 20th? I was thinking a tour to the DMZ but might be a bit tight on time, depending on where I stay in the city. I doubt it’s as much fun to explore the city on foot when it’s cold and snowy out so any ideas would be great.

This much I know: I want to be close to the airport on the morning of the 21st.

It’s pretty hard to get on a DMZ tour, you need to book ahead and either be flexible or get lucky. I imagine competition for places will be even worse during the Olympics, but it’s a good thing to see if you can manage it. I wrote about it on my travel blog here

If you don’t manage to do that, perhaps we could meet up in Seoul on the 20th if I don’t catch you in Gangneung. But yes, Seoul is much harder to enjoy when it’s minus 10 outside! I go snowboarding as much as possible of course, but winter here feels pretty hard in the city itself. Did you see this post yet? That covers the main ideas for things to do

We truly appreciate and welcome everyone who are visiting Korea for Olympic Winter Games Pyeongchang 2018. And thank you for your interest and support on Pyeongchang Korail Pass.

KORAIL has opened new KTX ‘Gyunggang Line’ on December 2017 which provides the most safe and fast transportation to reach olympic venues.
Furthermore, we have developed foreigner-only railway pass called ‘Pyeongchang Korail Pass’ in order to let foreign visitors to explore Korea with KORAIL conveniently.

As we have announced beforehand, seat reservation of KTX(Incheon-Seoul ↔ Gangneung station) for Seollal period(February 14th to 18th 2018) will be open from January 17th 16:00P.M.(Korean standard time).
However, to resolve hardships that Pyeongchang Korail Pass holders may face, we have made additional special reservation plan as follows:

– Special reservation period: January 25th 10:00A.M. to January 29th 16:00P.M. (Korean Standard Time)
– Available trains: KTX(Incheon-Seoul ↔ Gangneung station) for Seollal period(February 14th to 18th 2018) only
– Limited option: 2 seats per person for a day & up to 6 seats per person during the Seollal period in total

The option limit is given for fair provision to every passholder within limited seat capacities. Therefore, we would like to appreciate your understandings in advance, and we recommend you to make seat reservation carefully in accordance with your itinerary.

In addition, if you cannot reserve seats for the Seollal period, you can get on train with standing tickets at any time within valid period.
Please note that hardcopy(printed-out) pass must be possessed with you when you request seat at stations or board trains.

Thank you for your understandings and cooperation.
We sincerely want you to have pleasure time in Korea with KORAIL.

HI
I luckily got tickets for the olympic giant slalom in Yongpyong Alpine. But I wonder about acomodation. There are some, close there, but it seams not so much going around there. so i was thingking about staying in gungenom. DO you know if there is a shuttle bus and is this a good idea?

Hi Gregor, you can see the shuttle system here. Bus TS17 connects the Yongpyong slalom venue to Yongpyong Rainbow Parking Area, which is connected by TS5 to Jinbu Station and TS12 to Daegwallyeong Parking Area.

Sorry though, I not sure where you mean by gungenom? Did you mean Gangneung? If so, yes you could stay in Gangneung. You can take the train from Gangneung to Jinbu Station (then the shuttles), or bus TS31 runs between Gangneung & Pyeongchang. You can search hotels in Gangneung here. Hope this helps!

Hi Simon.
Thank you for all the information.
I could only get on the late KTX from Incheon 22:15 to Jinbu station 00:15 arriving just after midnight on 9 Feb.
I wanted to check on transport available at that time of night from Jinbu to Phoenix Snowpark to our accommodation there.
Do you know if there will be late night shuttles or any other options?
Thanks

Hi Jackie, there are shuttle buses, but they stop running 2 hours after the last event of each day. That means they’ll stop at midnight on the 9th (as the opening ceremony finishes at 10pm), so it’s probably unlikely you’ll be able to take one. The alternative would be a taxi, but it’s quite far from Jinbu to Phoenix Park – it would be better to use Pyeongchang Station, but I realise this probably wasn’t an option due to your arrival time.

The shuttle diagram is here; shuttle T6 connects Jinbu Station to Phoenix Park, and T15 connects Phoenix Park to Jangpyeong Bus Yerminal & Pyeongchang Station. But again, as there are no events at Phoenix that day I doubt you’ll be able to take a shuttle. Do try, of course, but be prepared for having to take a lengthy taxi ride (40km or so)

Hi, I have a pyeongchang pass and logged in as soon as tickets were available but I had a huge problem getting outbound tickets from either the airport or Seoul to pyeongchang in the mornings across multiple days. As in, they were all sold out. I also can’t get any return tickets for some days. Most concerning are the days where the events end late and there is only 1 train that you can catch.

It would be great to know if they end up saying how many standing tickets per train per station will be made available because I am concerned that I won’t be able to get to/from my event.

Remember that you can also use Cheongnyangni Station or Sangbong Station, both located in eastern Seoul. A lot of the trains start & finish there rather than Seoul Station, so there are lots more departures available if you include them in your search. I’m still seeing good availability for both, so you should be able to get something.

From the Seoul Station area it’s about 20 minutes to Cheongnyangni or 35 mins to Sangbong by subway (you’ll have to take a taxi if arriving back there at midnight though)

I unfortunately planned my Olympic dates as the exact same time as new years. We managed to get train tickets TO gangneung on feb 14 today, but were not able to get tickets back to Seoul on Feb 18 in the evening. Not sure what to do now… do we risk trying to get standing tickets? Are there going to be other options like buses or something? We fly out of Seoul on the 19th so obviously don’t want to miss that!! Any advice?

Hi Katrina, you can also take the train back to Cheongnyangni Station or Sangbong Station, they’re both located in Seoul. The last train back on most days during the Olympics leaves Gangneung at 1:00 and Jinbu at 1:24, reaching Cheongnyangni at 2:34. Check the schedule here, page 6.

These 2 stations are a little far from the centre and you’ll need to take a taxi to your hotel if arriving back after the subway finishes, but that’s better than being stuck in Pyeongchang! (Cheongnyangni is more convenient than Sangbong)

I’m lost. I keep reading posts stating that trains are leaving at 1 Gangneung to Cheongnyangni. Or Jinbu to Cheongnyangni at 1:24. (Post 1/17/18 to Katrina). I can’t find either of these trains. The last train from Jinbu to Sangbong is 22:54 and sold out! Last train from Gangneung to Sangbong is 22:30 and sold out. Last train from Jinbu to Cheongnyangni is 22:34 and sold out! Last train from Gangneung to Sangbong is 22:30 and sold out! Where are the trains that leave at 1 or 1:24? I can’t see how to reserve a standing ticket? Can you please explain how to go about getting a standing ticket? Do you have any idea if “worst case” how long it would take us to get from Opening Ceremonies to any of these train stations? We have already purchased the Korail passes. Unfortunately we made the mistake of buying really good and expensive tickets to the Opening. Our grandson competes the next morning. We had no problems getting seats up to Jinbu on the 9th, and have seats (both directions)for his competition on the 10th and 11th. But we can’t seem to get home on the 9th. I’m thinking our choices are to 1. Give away our tickets. 2. Plan to sleep at the P&G venue or ???? Or 3. See if we can find a room anywhere that a train would go to BOTH after opening ceremonies and back to Phoenix Park by 9:30 am. Or 4. Go to the Opening for 1 hour. Can you give us some direction/advice? We are comfortable with public transportation, so a mixture of trains, buses, subways is fine with us. We are in our late 70’s, speak no Korean and have never travelled anywhere in Asia. We are staying at the 4 seasons checking in on 2/7/18 and would prefer to sleep in a bed versus the train station. But since we are on the 7:30 am train the next morning maybe we should check out on the 9th and stay up there (assuming we could find a place that would take us for 1 night).

Can you also provide us with a name and contact information of someone we can file a complaint with? We planned on purchasing tickets to closing ceremonies, and we have another Korail pass. Our grandson also competes on the 24th. However, after this experience I won’t buy tickets to anything until I have train reservations. I think it’s a real disorganized mess and I can’t believe we are the only people who are frustrated with the train situation. After flying 17 hours it’s really disappointing not to be able to attend the first event.

Your web site is absolutely fabulous and the Olympic committee should be paying you. If you could email me your responses I would be most
appreciative. I still can’t find your answers to my earlier questions but I’m pretty tech challenged.

Haha, I agree – also really starting to think they should be paying me, thanks for saying so!

Ok, so after the opening ceremony there’s a 0:44 to Sangbong, and a 1:24 to Cheongnyangni. If you don’t see them on the Korail site, it’s likely just because they’re after midnight so you need to set the date for the 10th. Go here and set the date for Feb 10th and the hour to 0:00, and check from Jinbu to Sangbong & Cheongnyangni, and you’ll see those trains. I’m afraid they’re already fully booked though, so you won’t be able to reserve them either.

For the standing tickets, they can only be bought in Korea. They are available in advance though, so if you wanted to try for standing tickets my advice would be to make that the first thing you do after clearing immigration when you land on the 7th – go to the KTX counter at the airport, and try to get standing tickets for the 22:54 (Sangbong), 0:44 (Sangbong) or 1:24 (Cheongnyangni). Korail do seem to be confident that there will be enough standing tickets for everyone to travel, so if you’re willing to trust them it would seem to be ok.

But in the event there are no standing tickets either, I would strongly advise against planning on sleeping at Jinbu Station – I expect the station will be locked shut overnight, as that’s standard practice once the last train of the day has gone. It could be below minus 10 Celsius, so being outdoors overnight really isn’t an option. If you think you’d be better trying to stay in the area overnight, only do so if you have accommodation booked.

Sorry, it’s quite hard to give concrete advice, as it depends how comfortable you are with playing things by ear or if you prefer to have everything settled in advance. If it were me, I’d keep all the existing reservations for now and try to buy those standing tickets as soon as I landed. Then, if none are available, I’d look into either getting a room near the ceremony for the night, selling the ceremony tickets, or attending but leaving early. But if that feels too up in the air, then yes unfortunately I suppose you’ll have to look at those latter 3 options now.

Oh, there is one more option actually – I’d estimate a taxi all the way from Alpensia to Seoul would probably clock in at around 350 dollars.

As for complaining, I’m really not sure who to complain to, the IOC, or Korail, or both! But believe me, you definitely aren’t the only ones frustrated with the situation – far from it. I wish I could say for sure whether you can get standing tickets, obviously I can’t give a 100% definite answer on that but as I said if it were me I would try that as Plan A, and the odds seem reasonable.

Please do feel free to ask any further questions you have, and also I guess I know who your grandson is (assuming you share the same surname), so I’ll be cheering for him!

OMG, you just saved my sanity!!! Thank you so much for the advice on taking the train from Cheongnyangni or Sangbong… even now (<30 days out) there are several decent times left. Now, I just need to figure out how to get to Sangbong KTX station. On the Seoul subway map (http://www.korea4expats.com/korean-subways.php) I see a subway station called Sangbong. Is that going to be the same station or reasonably close to the KTX station? I'm not staying near downtown anyway, so I believe this is going to be a more direct option, I just want to make sure I'm going to the right place.

Good stuff. Sports Complex is actually the name of a subway station, and yes if that’s where you’re staying then Sangbong is indeed your most convenient KTX station. By subway you’d get there via Line 2 and Line 7, changing at Konkuk University, about 30 minutes. Taxi maybe 20000 won. Hope you have a great trip!

We have the same problem.:-( We will be coming with a child and don’t know how to get to Seoul after the Opening Ceremony. My host said she would help but I guess in reality she doesn’t want to buy the tickets for us. She told me that Korail told her there are no trains running after midnight but they clearly show up on Korean Korail website (but not on the English Korail website). But she is not much responsive to that but “wishes me good luck”.
We could only buy the tickets in Korea. How frustrating! I didn’t expect such problems. I thought it would be safe and most convenient to stay in Seoul.

Hi Simon!
We don’t have the passes, only booked single tickets. I just need tickets for returning to Seoul after the Opening Ceremony..

Alternatively, if you can’t get back to Seoul, try stay overnight in Gangneung, as from Jinbu to Gangneung has more train. I’m not managed to reserve one of the night train back to Seoul after my 11:45pm to end, and the next day I need to rush for 6am train from Seoul again. Thus, I booked a room in Gangneung instead, and it also giving me opportunity to stay overnight in another city in Korea. Great deal.

There are no tickets available on 9th/10th. Only standing tickets and I could only buy them in Korea at the stations. My host obviously doesn’t want to do me the favour and so I have to find someone else in Korea. My Korean contact, not living in Korea, is on holiday. But I wrote her anyway and she will contact her friend in Korea. The plan is that the friend buys the standing tickets and send them to our host in Seoul. How complicated but hopefully it works. I’m wondering how other foreign visitors handle the transport problem without any Korean contact. I read from the Seollal problem. To say it directly it sucks.
Gangneung, obviously would this be an alternative especially because we have to go there on 11th for figure skating but that would be too expensive. I mean Olympic tickets, flights, accomodation in Seoul, and the transport is enough for us and the prices for rooms in Gangneung are pricey. Or how much did cost your room?

Hi Simon,
Your website is great! Full of helpful information, thanks for taking the time to help us all going to games!.
We are staying at YangYang from 8/2 to 13/2. I’m checking the information on transportation, and it looks like there will be shuttles to the transportation mall and from there to the venues.
My biggest concern, of course, is getting back to our hotel after the opening ceremony. Any advice?

Thanks Simon,
Yes, I see the most convenient option for us will be TS all the way to Gangneung north.
Do you know how long it could be the ride? I will need to get transportation to the hotel and most likely they will ask me to book a certain time. So far I cant find how long it will take from the olympic stadium to Gangneung.
Thanks again!
Silvia

Hi again, if you look below the shuttle bus diagram there are some drop-down arrows. Click on those, and you can check the journey times & departure intervals. As you can see, it says 36 mins for TS31, but note that the 30mins for TS30 is for Daegwallyeong Transport Mall > Olympic Plaza > Jinbu Station – as you’re getting off at the plaza, I think that should be just about 10 minutes. So I think you need to allow at least an hour from North Gangneung Transport Mall to the plaza, but that’s not accounting for any lining up so preferably allow a bit longer.

Hi again!
Yes, friend of friend (We are a burden :-() went to the station. The lady from the tourist hotline said it’s 10min walk from stadium to the next cafe etc. I don’t know if I can trust this info. I have to check this through my Korean contact who is on holiday. *sigh*

Hi, there’s going to be free shuttle bus service to/from Seoul for event ticket holders, it was just announced and reservations open on the 26th. See here for a bit more info. Fingers crossed the schedule helps with your situation!

Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it.
I already saw the article but of course it doesn’t work out. I tried to registrate but it doesn’t send me the verification code to my mobile. Probably because it’s a foreign number and yes, I added the country code.
*sigh*

Hi I will be travelling from Gangneung to PyeongChang Olympic Plaza for medal presentation on Feb 17, then back to Gangneung in the same night. Website said that I can take KTX to Jinbu Station then shuttle bus to the plaza, but I check at Google map that Jinbu Station is actually quite far away from the plaza? https://goo.gl/maps/zt8k1HcLttL2
Or should I take bus from Gangneung to the plaza? TS31 & TS30? How long will it? Thanks!

Hi Angela, yes that’s correct, KTX to Jinbu then shuttle TS30. And you’re right, it is a little far from the station, the shuttle takes 30 minutes and departs very 10 minutes (plus however long you have to queue for the bus)

Oh wow I’m really sorry, I misread your original post – I answered as if you were going from Seoul to Pyeongchang and back. So, please ignore my previous reply!

Going from Gangneung to the plaza & back, the best route depends where your starting point is in Gangneung. If you look at the shuttle bus diagram you can see that from Gangneung Station to the plaza requires 4 shuttle buses, which is 80 minutes plus the waiting time for 3 transfers. So in that case, much better to take the KTX to Jinbu followed by shuttle TS30.

On the other hand, if you can easily get to the North Gangneung Transport Mall then you just need to do TS31 > TS9, which would be faster than the KTX route (about 45 minutes).

On the shuttle bus page you can see the journey times on the drop-down menus below the shuttle diagram, so check those and see which route would be faster. Or if you can tell me your starting point, I can advise what I think you should do.

Thank you for all of the information. I just want to double check that large luggage is allowed on the KTX trains? If yes, is there a place in each train car for the luggage? Could you explain a little how this works? Thanks so much!

There’s some overhead luggage space for smaller bags, and at the ends of the cars there’s some space for larger luggage.

I would note that there isn’t a huge amount of space available though, and there’ll probably be more luggage than usual due to the Olympics, so (if you’re boarding at the first station, anyway) it’s a good idea to get there nice & early to sort your luggage out before the space fills up.

If the luggage space is full you can still take your stuff on the train, it’ll just be a bit annoying/uncomfortable!

Your thread has been the most informative I have found on line. Thank you Simon.

I want to reserve the 870 train on 2/15 from Gangneung to Seoul (Cheongyangni station) on KTX. It is the last train following a hockey game that ends at 11:30 pm. I tried booking online but that station and train doesn’t exist according to online booking, yet the special schedule says it does. How can I reserve this in English from abroad?

Cheers! I wonder if you’re looking at the correct dates though? Because on the 15th, the 870 train is a 1:00am departure (not 11:30pm). To find it on the reservation system, as it’s after midnight you need to set the date to the 16th and the hour to 1… that train’s already fully booked though, so I suggest you book the 0:20 to Sangbong instead (Sangbong makes it a longer taxi ride in Seoul, but apart from that it works just as well as Cheongnyangni)

You don’t need a pass, you can just buy a single ticket each way. Booking screen here; are you going to the closing ceremony? The station for that is Jinbu… and remember that in Seoul you can also use Cheongnyangni Station and Sangbong Station (Cheongnyangni is better)

They just released the info for ticket collection and it appears all CoSport tickets need to be collected in Gangneung.. Our first events are on Monday, Feb 12 at Yongpyong Alpine Center – do you know if it is true that we have to take the KTX to Gangneung (we previously made seat reservations from Seoul-Pyeongchang) and then take the bus back to Yongpyong? This seems like a lot of extra travel time that will make us late for events and will crowd the Gangneung station. Have you heard of any other ways to collect tickets other than visiting Gangneung first?

I’m sorry but I really don’t know anything about CoSport or their ticket collection system… but that does sound pretty ridiculous.

One important thing I can tell you though – Pyeongchang Station is the wrong station for your event at Yongpyong, you should get off at Jinbu Station. If you can manage to sort your ticket collection out without going to Gangneung, then try to change your existing reservations for Jinbu instead of Pyeongchang… but if you do have to go to Gangneung first, then yeah I guess you’d then have to double back to Yongpyong. And the best way to do that might depend on where exactly the ticket collection point is in Gangneung. Do you know where it is?

Hi again, Simon, I had reached out previously as we originally had planned to stay in a pension and rent a car to drive to the venues. Ultimately we have decided to stay in an AirBNB near Cheongnyangni Station and bought the 7 day KTX pass. Seats have been reserved to and from Jinbu Station to attend all of the Bobsleigh events at the Olympic Sliding Centre (Go Team Canada 🇨🇦)! Anyhow – my question is – what would be the easiest way to get from the Olympic Sliding Centre to Gangneung Station to visit Canada Olympic House and Gangneung Olympic Park? Can we literally hop on a shuttle or do we have to book the train in advance to go to the next stop. It would be nice to be spontaneous depending on the timing but will reserve the KTX if this is the only option. Any advice you can provide would be appreciated! Thanks so much!

Good stuff, sounds like your plan’s coming together – I’m not Canadian myself, but I actually used to live in Van so do also usually cheer for Team Canada! (we don’t get so many Brits to cheer on at the Winter Olympics)

To answer your question, yes you can go by free shuttle bus from the sliding centre to Gangneung Olympic Park. Check out the shuttle bus diagram here (scroll down); the route would be TS11 > TS31 > TS20/TS26. Travel time for that would come in around 90 minutes (maybe more depending how long you end up lining & waiting for each transfer), alternatively you could use your train passes to try and jump on a KTX with standing tickets. But yeah either way I think you can play it by ear instead of reserving a specific train.

Wondering if you knew more info about lockers for luggage at the stations in Jinbu and PyeongChang, or if there will be any other luggage services available.

Additionally, I bought the KTX pass over 2 mo ago, but have never had the option of seat reservations – everything was blocked out. Any ideas on if they’ll open up more trains or if standing seats are actually still available? I don’t arrive to Korea until the 14th, so I’m quite worried about transport. Thanks!

I’d work on the assumption that you won’t be able to get a locker, unless they set up some sort of additional Olympic left luggage system (but I haven’t heard of any such thing)

Regarding standing tickets, you can reserve them in advance but only from within Korea. So I suggest you look at the schedules and work out which trains you want to be on, and then when you clear immigration go straight to the KTX counter at the airport and ask to reserve those trains.

No idea if they’ll add more trains on those busy holiday dates (14th – 18th); they did do so after the opening ceremony though, so it is a possibility (my guess is they’ll start adding trains only after the standing tickets sell out)

Hi Amy, no they’re not the same thing – they’re a couple of km apart. There will be local buses from the KTX station, but I’m not able to advise on the numbers & routes; should also be easy enough to grab a taxi at the station

Thank you for your assistance! Your website has been such a great help for those unfamiliar with Korea!
I was curious if you know how far Gangneung station is from Jeongdongjin train station. And how to get between the two sites?

Hi, I am watching a late game that ends around midnight on 24 Feb, which means I can only catch the train at 1am on 25 Feb. However, the 1am trains back to Cheongyangni end on Feb 24. I checked the official train schedule, and saw that they placed the 12am and 1am trains at the bottom of the list, as if they were last trains for the day. Does that mean there will be trains after the midnight of 24 Feb, so they actually mean there are 1am trains on 25 Feb…? This is confusing but I hope my guess is right, else I’ll be stuck in Gangneung till 5am the next day!

Yeah, things are still not looking too clever from Korail on the 24th & 25th. I’m afraid that, as things stand, there are no 1am trains on the 25th. The best place to check this is actually on the booking screen (here), as they have actually been adding a few trains which you won’t necessarily see on the schedule but they show up straight away on the booking system.

There was a similar problem for the opening ceremony this Friday, and they did finally add 4 extra trains on after the ceremony. Obviously it’s ridiculous they didn’t have those trains in the first place, but it least it shows they can & will make last-minute changes. Hopefully this’ll happen for the 24th & 25th – keep checking back, I’ll announce any extra trains in a box at the top of the page

I want to go from Seoul to Pyeongchang to get to the Phoenix Snow Park on the KTX but it’s not clear what stop I need to get off at to get there. I would like to have the actual address so that I can gauge the distance from the train station to my hotel and the snow park and plan some sort of transport. Any help is welcomed.

Do you think I still can secure standing ticket next week? I am coming to Seoul buy u haven’t buy any trial ticket to pyeongchan. Plus, can I buy return ticket immediately from Seoul to pyeongchan on the same day of purchase. Tq ya

Hi, yes you can buy your return ticket on the same day. The best thing to do is work out which trains you need tickets for, and buy them all together – we don’t know how many standing tickets are available on each train, so I suggest you should try to buy them as soon as you arrive i.e. go straight to the KTX ticket counter at the airport and buy the tickets. I hope you can get them!

I have only one day for gangneung and I can’t find any tickets between seoul and Gangneung. it seems all ktx on 17th Feb are sold out already. I also checked kobus and I didn’t find gangneung station on the list. Did that mean there is no more tikects between Seoul and gangneung ? Is there any other way can I get to gangneung and back on 17th Feb?

The 17th is very busy because of the Lunar New Year holiday and the Olympics happening at the same time, so yes the train seats are basically sold out.

Two things to remember – firstly, there are also standing tickets available (which aren’t shown on the reservation system). You can only buy these in person at the stations in Korea, so I advise that as soon as you arrive go to the KTX counter at the airport station and try to buy the tickets you need. Secondly, there are 3 stations you can use in Seoul: Seoul Station, Cheongnyangni, and Sangbong, so if you can’t get tickets to/from Seoul Station try the other two (Cheongnyangni is more convenient than Sangbong). The late night trains back mostly terminate at these other 2 stations.

Also, when you’re checking Kobus for buses to Gangneung you need to set Dong-Seoul as the terminal (Dong Seoul = East Seoul). I can still see quite a few seats available on the 17th, but be aware that the traffic will be awful so it could take 4 hours or more each way.

We are 2 going to freestyle skiing on Feb 12th. Event finish at 22:30 but all train are full to come back? What are our alternative to come back to Seoul the same night? And it seems there is no bus after 23h… We are staying in Seoul and have no budget to buy a 2nd hotel room near the event. Will they be more train? Standing ticket directly at the train? Please help!!!

There are still seats available on the 00:53 (13th Feb) train from Pyeongchang Station to Sangbong Station. I suggest you book this train as soon as you read this, you can do so here

Sangbong Station is a little far out from central Seoul, you’ll need to drop 30 or 40 dollars on a taxi to your hotel (depending where you’re staying), but that’s surely better than being stuck in Pyeongchang overnight!

(and yes, there are also standing tickets but you can only buy them in person in Korea. So you could try to get standing tickets on an earlier train, but if you want it booked before you get to Korea you should book the 00:53)

I’m looking on the Korail website trying to get tickets from Gangneung to ICN terminal 1 on Feb 26 but I can’t select anything? Do you know if they’re sold out? 🙁
Also, are they going to release more tickets? It doesn’t seem like there are as many trains as they’re suppose to be.

Hi Michelle, yes if you can’t select anything it means the seats are sold out. You can still try to buy standing tickets on those trains, but you can only do so in person at stations in Korea – you can do this in advance though i.e. straight after you land, go to the ticket counter at the airport train station and see what’s available.

Obviously there’s a risk to waiting until you arrive – the other option is to book a KTX to Seoul Station (seats are still available on the 26th), then ride the subway out to the airport from there. This will take longer, but gives you peace of mind by enabling you to book ahead.

When inputting the departure/arrival stations to search for trains, if Seoul Station has no availability remember that Cheongnyangni Station and Sangbong Station can also be used for Seoul (they’re in eastern Seoul and accessible on the subway system).

Also remember that trains after midnight show on the following date.

Finally, when seats are sold out on a given train it’s still possible to buy standing tickets, but unfortunately this can only be done in person at stations in Korea.

Depending on your travel dates it might be hard to get seats at this point, especially Feb 14th – 18th. Good luck!

Hi Simon,
Do we need to bring food to different venues for lunch and dinner, since I could not find info regarding food service in the Winter Olympics? Or would that be provided in certain major venues?

Meals are available at the venues but there are reports of horrendous waiting times (45 minutes and up, even a whole 2 hours in one case!)

You can take food in with you, but within the guidelines – essentially, it has to be unopened packaged snacks (so no sandwiches, fruit, etc). You can’t take water in, but you can take an empty bottle and fill it from water containers inside.

Those are the basic rules, but please check the official list on the Pyeongchang website.

Hi there. Great website! I’m sorry if this has been answered already – I did a quick scan of the comments section.

Does anyone know whether there is luggage storage in the Pyeongchang KTX station? Or anywhere in the Olympic Village? My friend and I want to attend an event on the 25th and go right to the airport afterwards (we are staying in Seoul so we’d need a place for our luggage during the event). Thanks for your help!

Ok, so there are lockers at Jinbu & Pyeongchang stations, but not very many and mostly small. These are basically the lockers they’ll need for regular demand post-Olympics, and it doesn’t appear any additional storage has been provided (although there is apparently some temporary Olympics luggage storage at Gangneung Station). I don’t think you can rely on being able to get a large locker for your luggage at Pyeongchang Station. If you have time, you could try stashing your luggage at Gangneung Station, then double-back from the event to Gangneung to pick it up before heading to the airport. This is obviously far from ideal, but I’m not sure what else to suggest.

Just went to the figure ice skating on the 11th Feb at Gangneung Ice Arena from Cheongnyangni. some feedback:

Got standing tickets for the train to and back. There are 2 jumpseats in between the carriages. Was lucky enough to grab those seats on both ways, otherwise may need to stand the whole trip. I noticed there were spare seats along the way (people must have missed their trains or rerouted?)- or it could be that it’s still early days in the games so some plans have fallen through. Anyway…

There was a bit of confusion though when I tried to catch an earlier train back to Cheongnyangni. One staff said I could catch an earlier train without needing to pay an extra fee – this is False. I got led onto the train only to know i’d be charged an extra 19,000 won for changing even a standing ticket (when the train wasn’t that full at all and I was just on a jump seat). I paid and was visibly upset …

The upside – was the ticket inspector was very kind and he checked for me spare seats and pointed me to a spare business class seat. Ha…

Re: food in the venues – it’s ridiculous, it’s a joke. They do not have enough cashiers in the running venue; the cashiers have limited English so actually half the time I see people getting held up because of communication problems; by the time you get to order something (unless you are the first ones out during that 15minute break…) every food item is out (except popcorn and Pringles). By the time lunch/after lunch when the event finished…. all the food venues are packed and… half the food have run out…

I suggest definitely take your own bottle, food or some snacks in there! The event I watched wasn’t even at full capacity -not sure if they have underestimated numbers or just haven’t estimated it well at all.

Anyway. The Koreans are nice people… Gangneung is just very far and there’s not much except for what they provide… it’s a little frustrating. I hope they evaluate and step up in the days to come.

Sorry to hear you got charged again for the train – I guess it’s ok to switch trains if you have a Pyeonghcang Pass, but other readers please take note that you shouldn’t do so without a pass (or in any case be ready to pay again if you do get checked)

The food situation sounds like a joke indeed – I’m going to my first event tomorrow, and am taking all my snacks with me!

And yes, I agree the people in Korea are lovely, the volunteers are probably also feeling frustrated when they can’t help better – most of the logistical issues would’ve been avoided if it was Seoul 2018 instead of Pyeongchang 2018, but it was never the national government behind the bid… it was always a regional effort by Gangwon-do Province.

As for events not being full, I think a lot of it is due to the scheduling for prime time viewing in the States, or at least partly.

Anyway, thanks for the updates and hope you enjoy the rest of your time in Korea. Cheers!

Has anyone tried using taxi or uber to get to the venues? I’m staying near the HongC Hotel which is 2.5 miles from Gangneung Ice Arena and I’m wondering if cars or shuttles would be better.
I’m also hiring a driver to get from Gangneung to Seoul at night (about 11pm). Do you know how long the drive is with the traffic?

I haven’t been over to Gangneung yet so can’t answer your first question, but for the drive from Gangneung to Seoul it should be around 3 hours. What date are you doing that? Only issue might be heavy traffic on Feb 17th & 18th due to the end of the Lunar New Year holiday. But traffic on the highways hasn’t been bad so far (I was just on the bus back to Seoul from Welli Hilli Park, traffic was completely normal)

Hello, I am considering last minute trip to Olympics Feb 14 to 18. Spending 2 full days in Pyeonghcang. Do you think i can still get a standing ticket on KTX from ICN airport on 15th and coming back on 18th? I know this is lunar new year time. Donot want to come all the way to seoul and not able to see Olympics. Also any last minute recommendations as where to stay seoul or Gangneung?Also can i still get event tickets at venue last minute?
Thanks in advance

There have been plenty of standing tickets available during the Olympics so far, but yeah the New Year holiday will make it harder. Remember you don’t have to go direct from ICN though, you can also ride the AREX train to central Seoul, and try to take the KTX from Seoul Station, Cheongnyangni Station, or Sangbong Station. But I really can’t say for sure if you’ll be able to get a ticket – best thing would be to arrive early in the morning, so you have lots of train departures to try for throughout the day.

How’s the situation on standing tickets? Are there enough for all travelers?

Me and my family booked Korail 3-day passes under the assumption it would work (to be fair, nowpyeongchang.com has a link to where we bought them) and we were just told by Korail staff that they can’t be used when inquiring about something else.

So we’re contemplating whether it’s a good idea to rent a car or to go for standing tickets. We’ll be staying in Seoul and going to the Olympics on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I’m aware Seollal might make the roads a bit full on these days.

Standing tickets have been fine so far, but yeah it’s hard to say for the weekend due to Seollal. I’d still have that as your Plan A though, with renting a car as Plan B.

What day do you arrive? You can buy standing tickets in advance, so head straight to the train ticket counter at the airport when you land and see if you can get all the tickets you need. Hopefully that works, but if not then if it’s just 1 or 2 trains you can’t get see if you can get bus tickets instead, or if it’s multiple trains maybe switch to driving.

Good luck! (and if you have time, please let me know how it works out)

Hi, I just purchased tickets for freestyle skiing in Pyeongchang starting 10:00 and hockey in Gangneung ending 23:30 on the 17th. I also have to go to Gangneung first to pickup both tickets at the cosport office. I arrive in Seoul on the 15th but only plan on doing a crazy day trip to both cities on the 17th. Currently all tickets are sold out on the korail site:

1. Can i purchase standing room on the KTX train (Seoul>Gangneung>Pyeongchang>Gangneung>Seoul) when I arrive on the 15th or do I have to wait to the day of commute

2. It Doesn’t appear that there are KTXtrains after 23:10 from Gangneung. Do I need to book a hotel and go back the next day?

Yes you can buy standing tickets in advance, so buy all the tickets you need when you arrive.

There are trains after midnight – but they’re technically the next day, so on the booking system you need to set the date for the following day with the hour set to 0:00 e.g. if you’re in Gangneung on the 17th, check for the early trains on the 18th.

Hey! Does anyone know if it is possible to arrive to the Incheon Airport T1 at 10:10pm and still catch a KTX train (standing room) to Gangneung that same evening (assuming it will take some time to clear customs and collect luggage).
We land on the 14th, and it seems to be limited transport travelling that late at night. Even the bus doesn’t seem to travel from Incheon Airport to Gangneung at that hour. Our only reliable option seems to be hiring a private car for 350 USD…
Any tips on public transit that late at night would be great! Thank you!

You’re landing too late for a direct KTX – last one goes at 10pm (see the schedule here, page 4)

There’s an 11:30pm from Seoul Station to Gangneung, but it’s unlikely you can clear immigration & baggage collection and make it to Seoul Station in 80 minutes. It is possible if everything goes perfectly and lines are short, but you can’t bank on it.

We’re going to be in Gangneung next week and only going to games at the Ice Arena but I can’t figure out how to get from my hotel to the arena!

We’re staying at the Golden Tulip Skybay hotel but we would like to explore the town. Are taxis the best way to get around? How the heck does the bus system work? I can’t find anything like bus route map and timetables.

I have family coming to my event in PYEONGCHANG but staying in Seoul they are planning to catch the 6am train out of Seoul but the train is booked out. Can they buy standing tickets the night before at the airport or in the morning?

Tell him to try and buy a standing ticket. He can do this as soon as he’s in Korea, and remind him to check trains after midnight (i.e. on the following date) and also to check trains to Cheongnyangni Station & Sangbong Station in addition to Seoul Station (Cheongnyangni is more convenient than Sangbong)

We got standing tickets (5 days ago) to Gangneung on the earliest train available which still gets us there an hour after the game starts. Yesterday I doubled checked and all trains are full. No standing spots left. I think many people are going to be left out with no train option. What does KORAIL do when you’re caught without a ticket or if you’re on a different train than you’re ticketed for? I wonder if they are letting people slide due to the shortage?

Hi, yeah the KTX situation for these next few days is not looking good. If you’re on the wrong train and they check you, at best you’ll just be charged full fare for the train you’re on, and allowed to stay onboard; at worst, you’ll get fined several times the ticket value and kicked off at the next station. I’ve often ridden the KTX without being checked, but they do check sometimes. If you have a Pyeongchang Pass, I don’t think they can fine you but if the train’s already officially full they might not let you remain onboard.

I keep finding big swings in availability of tickets online on a day to day basis now. This morning I was told that there were no return tickets on Sun night from Gangneung except 7.50pm and now all except the last train are showing availability. I have been able to book the tickets I wanted (had reserved some w bad timing/not ideal stations) except for two. I keep meeting ppl who have changed their tickets pretty easily and some who just got on trains so fingers crossed the situation is easing slightly. Was quite bad when I arrived.